Saturday, April 20, 2013

Blog 10: China Bird Flu Count Rises

The current bird flu scare in China continues to spread. Another case of the bird flu has been reported, which takes the total infection count to 83 people. Seventeen people have already died from the H7N9 strain of the virus. Before March, this strain had not been detected in humans, only in the common bird form. The World Health Organization is still exploring the possibility whether the virus can be spread between people. Although many of the people infected have been exposed to poultry, the majority of the cases have had no known contact with poultry. A representative from WHO stated that they needed to establish where the virus was living and which animal was its reservoir so that they could ultimately figure out how it's being transmitted to people. One boy has been confirmed to be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus which means that he tested positive for the illness but did not display any symptoms. This discovery was worrying because it can make the spread of the infection more difficult to monitor, experts say. Authorities are monitoring those exposed and hoping to find out more information on the virus as soon as possible.
This article is important because containment of the virus to the smallest location possible is the key to preventing a possible pandemic. It makes matters even more complicated due to the fact that experts do not know what is carrying the virus and how people are contracting it. It is important that they push forward to find out all that they can in order to prevent the further spread of the infection. When a virus like this occurs, this is a time for unity of countries in order to protect our future. Hopefully once experts find the cause and spread of this virus, then they can do something to help the people who are infected and take precautions to prevent its further spread.